2011 F1 season

Vitaly Petrov has extended his contract to race with Renault for another two seasons.

The Russian driver confirmed the deal in a press conference in Moscow today. He said:

I am very happy to continue with the team and proud to be representing Lotus Renault GP for the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

I learned a lot about the sport, the circuits and the car this year. That will help me improve even more in the future. I am very excited about working with this great team once more, and I?óÔé¼Ôäóm confident that I will deliver.

In many ways, 2010 was about learning. 2011 will be about performing. Today, I feel I am ready to rise to this challenge.Vitaly Petrov

The news means Renault have both Robert Kubica and Petrov signed until the end of 2012.

Team chairman Gerard Lopez said:

We’re delighted to have Vitaly on board for another two years. Last season, he showed on several occasions that he clearly has the potential to deliver. It was just a matter of putting everything together during the same weekend, race after race, and this will be his target for 2011.

Also, thanks to Vitaly and the team, Russia is opening up to Formula 1. Over the past few months, we’ve established close links with this country and with some of its strongest companies. We’re looking forward to building on this special relationship and turning it into a very successful adventure over the next two seasons.Gerard Lopez

Team principal Eric Boullier added:

We are very pleased to confirm that Vitaly will be staying with us for 2011 and 2012, in order that both he and the team can build on a promising 2010 campaign.

The entire team has been working flat out over the past months to improve our competitiveness, and a stable driver line-up is essential to achieving our targets. Robert Kubica provides a remarkable benchmark for both speed and consistency, and we are certain that Vitaly will move closer to this level of performance next year.Eric Boullier

Renault issued the following Q&A with Petrov:

Vitaly, how does it feel to be confirmed at Lotus Renault GP?
It feels great. I learned so much this year and I know that I can come back stronger in 2011. I’m extremely proud to be part of this team and I’m determined to repay the faith they have shown in me.

Looking back on your rookie season, what did you enjoy the most?
There were a lot of special moments. The race in Shanghai is something that I will always remember when I overtook Schumacher and Webber to score my first points. Then, the first time I made Q3 in Turkey was an important step for me. And, of course, the race in Hungary was probably my best weekend when everything came together for me.

How has your life change since you became an F1 driver?
There’s a lot more travelling and not a lot of time for myself, but I will never complain because I love what I’m doing. I still feel like a boy at Christmas every time I get in the car. Life is not as easy as people think, of course, and there’s a lot more to F1 than driving the car, but it’s an amazing experience and I know I’m lucky to be one of just 24 drivers on the grid.

Do you feel at home at Lotus Renault GP?
Yes, definitely. Previous drivers have always said that there is a special atmosphere here and I have to say I agree with them. The team is very warm, friendly and open, and I get on really well with the guys.

Can you feel the growing support for F1 from Russia?
Definitely. I get more support from my country every week. In fact, recently one of the major lifestyle magazines included me in their top ten most attractive single men of Russia! You can feel that the sport is becoming more popular and soon we will have our own Grand Prix, which will create ore interest. Even our prime minister, Mr Putin, got a taste of F1 when he tried a Renault F1 car earlier this year.

What will be the main challenges of 2011?
There are quite a few changes that we have to adapt to as a team: new tyres, moveable rear wings and KERS, which I’ve never used before. There’s even a new race in India. So there are some things to adapt to, but they should improve the show and make for better racing. I’ve already seen the new car in the wind tunnel and it looks very promising. I also love our new colours and can’t wait to get back in the car and go racing.

What do you hope to achieve in your second season?
My objective is to continue improving as a driver and to become more consistent. There were times this year when I made mistakes and lost points, and I know this is where I can improve. I think I showed that I have the speed, but I need to be consistent over the whole weekend and get the maximum from every session.

What is your plan over the next couple of months before testing begins in February?
I was thinking about spending a few days in Maranello this winter, but I have been told it probably wasn’t the best idea… Seriously, after a busy year I’m taking the time to go back home and see my family and friends. It’s also the time to recharge my batteries so that I can come back fresh next year. I’m already working hard on my fitness and doing lots of training to be ready for the start of the season. Then, in January, I will be at the factory to see my engineers and for my seat-fit in the new car.

Heidfeld has had plenty of chances and has never made good on them. He has, at most, one season left in him. He’s admitted that he didn’t hit the ground running in the 2010 cars because they were alien to him, and he’s expressed interest in BMW’s DTM plans for 2012.

Though I understand what you’re saying, I feel Heidfeld has always performed. He matched Kubica at BMW, and nearly always beat his other team-mates. He has, I think, 8 (from memory) 2nd places and the win was so close!

I’m disappointed. Though, as you say, Heidfeld has now had his chance, but I think he would’ve been a far better choice that Petrov.

I think that’s a bit harsh, but your right, Heidfeld is close to the end of his F1 racing years, Where as Petrov, even if not a great performer so far, has time to improve.

Having said that, I’m of two minds. I don’t think he did well enough this year, but I’m happy for once they didn’t get rid of a new driver before he’s had a chance. I just hope Hulk gets a seat as well.

Agreed. I feel a bit torn as well, since he really hasn’t earned two more years there, but it’s nice to see a team hang onto a driver and give them the chance to improve rather than kick them to the curb at the first mistake.

I’m happy he’s back in. 2010 was a mixed bag for Petrov, and I disagreed with the ranking he got in the Top 27 drivers. I think there’s a little bit of Ari Vatanen in him: he’ll get a result or die trying. Some of his accidents came from pushing just a little bit too hard. If I were a team principal, that’s how I’d want my drivers to write their cars off – by trying to find that extra something. Much better than the Nico Hulkenbergs of the grid, making foolhardy mistakes when any other driver would see that the pass is never going to stick.

Hopefully Petrov can tap into whatever possessed him in Turkey, Hungary and Abu Dhabi next season. It was immediately apparent that he was onto a good thing as soon as he hit the ground on all three weekends; he just needs to channel is on a regular basis and I think he could one day lead a team.

+1 to this comment. Hopefully this year he’ll have more chances for testing so he can actually get acclimated to the car before being shoved into the race. Now that he knows all of the circuits, we should expect to see improved performance.

I do hope this happened, and that the new two year contract makes him less stressed into delivering the wrong things – he did show good things, let him increase the rate of those and stop the over eager mistakes.

I agree on Petrov deserving a second season to prove himself. I just hope he cuts out the mistakes fast and we will not be speaking about him as we refer to Sutil in a few years (doing so after 4 years).

Itâ€™s so difficult to rate Petrov. On the one hand he was comprehensively beaten by Kubica. On the other hand, can we even compare Petrov to Kubica? Favouritism within the team aside (as iâ€™m sure all number one drivers receive certain benefits), Kubica is possibly one of the most exciting drivers we have seen in F1. He is as fast as Alonso or Hamilton but driving a slower car. Itâ€™s kind of unfair to rate Petrov in that respect.

Petrov drove some good races this year â€“ and notably in Abu Dhabi withstood some serious pressure from Alonso and didnâ€™t make a mistake. He deserves another season in F1 certainly. 2 seasons though? Well, Renault better have some faith in him â€“ unless they are simply wanting some continuity in the team for when Kubica goes to Ferrariâ€¦.!

Or was the Renault even better than anyone rated it this year, Kubica was really only as good as say a Button or Webber, and Petrov is terrible? It’s difficult to compare different cars in F1. I do think Kubica probably overachieved what the car was capable of though…

Whatever your rating of Petrov and Kubica to drivers in different cars, it’s fairly clear that Renault was probably 5th in pace over the season, an the only reason Renault had the chance to beat Merc, was Merc had their own driver off the pace.

Regardless, it’s also clear that Kubica was a HELL of a lot better than Petrov this year, OMG he destroyed him. An this is my biggest problem with Petrov, Glock.

Glocks a GP2 champion from a talented year, a fantastic driver at Toyota when the car was up to it, even better at Virgin, even thought the car was never up to it. If they wanted results they could have had Glock, truly challenging Kubica and pushing him further than he’s likley to go against Petrovs prang magnet. Probably make enough of a differance in the constructors to be worth it.

And it also helps if the drivers are pushing each other to the limits… Well, let’s hope Vitaly will be better in 2011. He’s no longer a rookie, and he’s helping to develop the 2011 car. Now we will really see what he is made of.

Good news, I think this is the right choice. Money most probably played a big role in this decision but I believe that Petrov has the potential to become a very good driver. He definitely deserves another chance. Yes he made too many mistakes and collected too few points but one has to remember the circumstances in which he joined Renault and in which he had to spend his 1st season. The testing was very limited and Petrov was a clear number 2 in the team from the very beginning. If there was a sunny day during February tests then Kubica got to drive even though the initial plan was to give the car to Petrov. And this happened on more than just one occasion. Gerard Lopez openly admitted that Renault wanted to build the team around Kubica. I guess that Petrov sometimes did not get the latest updates to the car as well.

I expect Petrov to perform better in 2011 and I think that we will see more performances similar to the ones he showed in Malaysia, Hungary or Abu Dhabi this year.

In fact, recently one of the major lifestyle magazines included me in their top ten most attractive single men of Russia!

I am not kidding you on this one: a major lifestyle magazine here in Australia recently included one of my cousins as one of the top ten most attractive single men of the country (for those of you playing at home, he created Beached Az), and the guys there were so attractive that I wanted to date them. For a moment.

Now, I admit to being a Petrov fan … but, well, the dude looks like he’s been worked over with a larger-than-regulation-size ugly stick. Speaks volumes to the quality of their men. Strangely enough, their women are fantastic.

Oh, absolutely. That story about someone replacing Nico Rosberg’s passport photograph with Britney Spears’ photo reminded me of the days when Senna and Berger were so busy playing pranks on one another that it was a wonder they had time to race. In the ultra high-pressure world of Formula 1, drivers who can laugh at themselves are always welcome.

Or Kobayashi saying the reason he’s so fearless at overtaking is because his small Japanese eyes make it so that he doesn’t actually even see the drivers he’s overtaking and simply drives right past them.

So in the end we find out, he was thinking of beating Kubica to the Ferrari seat! Impressive thinking ahead.

I got the feeling Petrov will be a nice addition to the field. Sounds great, with Webbers interesting remarks, Hamilton starting to open up, Button always good for a nice soundbite, Kobayashi being quit a nice guy making jokes, Petrov with humour, Rosberg being pranked by his engineer, and Schumacher being more open to the media as well.

I think the reason why he is so popular with the female population might be because when you have the right shots of him, he looks like Mark Hamill. Looking like an actor is always bonus points and while I cannot speak for the girls of that era I assume that dating Luke Skywalker was for those girls who were into Star Wars (apparently they exist…) a nice idea as well.

That’s some serious cash he must be bringing. Petrov did not earn a two year extension by any stretch of the imagination last season. I’m slightly surprised he’s even coming back next year, but I think there was a bit of ‘who else do you sign’ that worked in his favour.

On a different note, Iâ€™m glad Keith is still calling the team â€˜Renaultâ€™ as it makes life a lot more simple.

As much as the teams would like it, most journalists don’t refer to them by their sponsors’ names unless they’re trying to impress the team. When was the last time a journalists wrote about “Vodafone McLaren Mercedes” or “Petronas Mercedes GP?” Renault’s chassis and team name are still both Renault, Group Lotus is just a sponsor. Bahar’s definitely implied he’d like to change that in the future though.

I’m actually pretty gald to hear this news. Lotus Renault GP sticking with Petrov has bucked the worrying trend of teams signing up successful GP2 drivers, giving them a brief stint in F1 and then discarding them leaving them searching for reserve driver roles or drives in IndyCar, GT1 etc etc etc.

Yes he’s bringing a sizable wad of cash, but he also has shown a fair turn of speed and will no doubt improve in his second season. Good rto see a team showing some faith in their talent.

I can’t say I’m surprised at the reactions to this. Petrov wasn’t the most popular driver this season. But it’s easy to forget two very important elements:

Firstly, Renault never expected to be competitive this year. I distinctly remember people like James Allison saying that they had a three-year plan to get back on top of the world when the R30 was launched, And as a part of that plan, Renault were expecting a muted 2010. They weren’t planning on being as competitive as they were until the end of 2011. After all, this was just as they were clawing their way out of the mud that was the Singapore investigations. The R30 suprised even them,

It is known that Petrov brought fifteen million Euros to the team. And that their budget for 2010 was a hundred and fifty million Euros. So that’s ten percent of their budget that he accounted for. And because he was signed the day the R30 was unveiled, not one Euro from his sponsor package actually went into the initial design of the R30. But fifteen million Euros is no small amount, so there’s one other place it could have gone: research and development. Petrov’s money gave Renault that little bit extra to play around with when it came to developing the car. With it, they were able to pursue a more-aggressive development strategy. Now, I’m not saying that Petrov alone is solely responsible for Renault’s success, and it’s impossible to say whether Kubica would have scored some of the results he did without Petrov in the team – but I think it’s wrong to write him off entirely. In his own way, Petrov helped the team out.

It’s also a misconception to say that a different second driver would have given Renault fourth in the WCC. I crunched the numbers a while ago (roughly, I should say), and assuming that Petrov average finishing position was one place lower than Kubica’s, and assuming that Schuamcher and Rosberg maintained the same average finishing position as they did in 2010, then Mercedes still would have triumphed by four points.

Petrov’s money may have helped the team, but Kubica absolutely destroyed him this year. Maybe Renault never had a chance to beat Mercedes this year, but that’s no excuse for Petrov’s poor season. He finished over 100 points behind his team mate, that is terrible by rookie standards.

He’s a rookie. A rookie who never drove a Formula 1 car until winter testing began this year. And even then, he got very little time in it because Renault needed Kubica to do as much dry-weather running as possible. Compare that to Hulkenberg and Kobayashi, both of whom had very good relationships with existing teams – Williams and Toyota respectively – for several years, where they often tested the cars.

Besides, Petrov was partnered with Kubica, one of the highest-rated drivers on the grid.

My my, we are quick to throw people on the trash heap aren’t we! Good for Petrov, good for Renault. Yes, I agree he under performed last season, as did half of the grid! No-one takes the time to build relationships and foster talent any more…